Scarlet
by TheDarkestPartToYourSoul
Summary: The blood both froze and sang in her veins as he approached her, and as she caved into his arms she felt her heart give out completely until she was absolutely nothing at all...Squall/ Rinoa
1. Trail of Blood

_**Scarlet**_

_Chapter One: Trail of Blood_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters._

_This is my little experimental first story, and I'm hoping to use reviews to see if I should continue it. In it things might be a little…odd, needless to say, for I twisted the plot to make this dark romance. So read and do share what you think!_

--

She had not seen him in days. Although it really was no surprise—Squall had always been secluded, and usually holed himself up in his office for a few hours. But this was no longer a few hours she was talking about—it was a few _days._

At first she had just thought that she kept missing him. There schedules were frustratingly misplaced, putting them far away from each other it seemed, at all times. He was in the training room while she was in the central office; she was in his office looking for him when he was in Cid's office.

And while they barely ever saw each other their bond never weakened, Rinoa still began to miss her knight, longing to see his handsome, albeit stoic face at least once before this day was over. Days really were too much…

And so the frustration of it all, the worry for him—for _them _as a unit, a couple, all led her here to this moment, to the large office door that led to his domain, the place he spent more time in than even his room—his always freezing, spacious office.

She knew that what she was doing was wrong; not only was it after hours, but she was sneaking in to see her boyfriend, uninvited, wearing nothing more than a tank top and silk shorts that were a _little _on the short side. Nothing wrong with that picture, now was there?

Her pulse fluttered in her throat as she reached for the doorknob, the metal cold against her warm palm and tracing a shiver down her spine as she exhaled slowly, gathering her will.

Something was wrong, and she had to, needed to, know before it was too late, before something happened to him…To them…

Rinoa would do anything to keep her Knight safe, just as he had done for her; as the door creaked open slowly her instincts began to scream danger as no light spilled through the door onto her, the room silent and dark on the other side. So very…Unnatural…

Her breath burst out of her in faint puffs of frost as she shivered, instinctively curling into herself and rubbing her arms as the cold air slammed into her. Her worry—and her fear—increased when she noticed the empty room, her eyes trying to adjust on the clearly empty desk chair. A chair that should have held the ever present form of her boyfriend…

Her heart beat like a frantic butterfly against the cage of her ribs as she stepped over to the desk, staring at the white papers that were haphazardly strewn over it. Squall was never disorganized, never untidy…

She set a hand down on the smooth wood at the end of the desk by the papers, and felt, instead of the familiar cold surface of the desk, something warm and sticky curl around her fingers. She jumped, her heartbeat seeming to echo all around the room as she shakily raised her hand to the window behind her, to the faint amount of moonlight that streamed in to produce the only light, that faint, mysterious murky light.

But even in the dimness she could discern the liquid, and a scream grew and died at the same time on her lips as she stared at the dark blood staining her fingers.

Rinoa was by no means unused to blood; back during that tumultuous time when she had battled the Sorceress Ultimacia along with all her friends, she had been forced to endure all of the bloodshed from the soldiers that were slaughtered, her friends, Squall and even herself. The red life giving liquid she had never considered a bad thing at all, but rather proof of life, of existence. She had never considered it a bad thing until now.

She nearly fell back into his chair as she shakily wiped the blood on her shirt, trembling as she briefly shut her eyes, trying to repress it. Blood in Squall's office, on Squall's desk… t could only mean one logical thing.

"Squall?" her desperate whimper split the air and was received with cold silence. She licked her dry lips again, pushed down the bile and the tears. "…Squall? Squall, please tell me you're here, please…"

When all remained silent as single tear slipped from her eye as Rinoa realized there was only one possible explanation; Squall was gone, bleeding, and he…he could be…

"Squall?" she jumped to her feet, teary eyes wide with a determination she refused to forfeit. She could not give in, not yet, could not believe it until she actually saw him, had searched the entire world for him…

"Squall?!"

She was halfway to the door, stumbling on trembling legs, when she noticed it. A trail of blood extended from the desk to the door she was now trembling in front of, leading out. She wasted no time in following it.

Heart racing faster than it ever had before, sending the adrenaline that kept her going—that sweet, homemade drug—through her veins, coursing like volts of electricity through her blood.

The drops of blood led on and on and on...

By the time it stopped, disappearing behind the hard metal door that led to Squall's room, she was panting for breath, her heart seeming to squeeze her lungs in a deadly embrace.

She fumbled in her pocket for the card key to his room, thanking god through a haze of panic that she had decided to bring it with her, and wasted no time in swiping it, nearly collapsing in relief at seeing the red light beside the door turn green as slowly, painfully slowly, the metal door slid back on its own accord to expose to her the scene of the crime.

With a cry she hurried into the room towards the dark shadow that loomed in the corner, unmistakably Squall, not noticing the sorry state of the room, the way he was hunched over.

A thin trail of moonlight fell through in a sliver of light to highlight her boyfriend's back, and as she reached out to him, eyes gleaming, he chose that moment to turn, and that light, no matter how faint, exposed it all.

And the blood running through Rinoa's veins froze as in her chest her heart stopped and was silent.

--

_Alright, so that was my little…Prologue of sorts, my tester if you wish to call it that. Wonder what's happening with Squall? Funny, I am too, haha. No, originally I planned on him being a vampire…An overused plot, I know, but trust me, never will it be like the book Twilight or any other sappy vampire romance; oh no, I am a dark person, so darkness…yes, time to let the darkness out! _

_But if you object to Squall being a vampire and can think of something else, please feel free to email me, or review it to me. Perhaps Squall could be injured by someone? Mm, that would create a mystery! Well, I don't know what I'm going to do, vampire or injured…Which plot sounds better to you? Let me know, and review if you want, I guess, ha. _


	2. The Real Squall

_**Scarlet**_

_Chapter Two: The Real Squall_

_Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or its characters_

_Ok, so here you go, what I decided to go with. Tell me what you honestly think, ok? Personally, I find it odd, but hey, I'm an odd person, haha! So it makes sense that I wrote it…But anyways, please enjoy!_

--

He stood in front of her in the same way he always had, still and silent, a questioning look in his eyes and his brunette head cocked to the side. The only thing different about the whole scene, the thing that had her flinching back in horror, was the remains of a body resting at her boyfriend's feet.

The blood flashed in the moonlight, highlighting the puddle on the floor that was the same sickening shade as it was on his lips. Blood…

The strong metallic smell churned her stomach as she stumbled back a step, pulse dancing in her jugular as she tried for the life of her to organize her thoughts, grasp onto some semblance of normality.

As she stood there, hand unconsciously clutched to her chest as she fixed her wide, glazed eyes on him, she mutely said his name, her mouth opening and closing but no sound other than ragged breaths coming out.

His head tilted to the side even more, and he raised a bloody hand to rub at the back of his neck—a nervous gesture that seemed so disproportionate given the situation that if Rinoa had not been chocking back sobs she would have—might have—laughed.

But there was nothing funny about the dead limp body at Squall's feet and his blood, that man's blood, covering Squall's lips, his fingers. Nothing funny at all…

"Rinoa…"

His voice was gravelly, and made her want to put her hands to her ears and block him out forever. His voice was unfamiliar to her, frighteningly foreign and callous. He sounded as though…As though he were possessed…

When he took a step towards her, over the dead body of the man, she took a step back, her wide eyes filling with shocked tears as she stared down at his outstretched hand, at the blood that stained it. And…And on his unnaturally long fingernails she could clearly see it, flecks of skin caught under the nails…

"Rinoa, you found me…" He drawled casually, calmly, as he took another step towards her. Her back hit the metal door as her heart gave one loud warning thump in her chest.

She licked at her dry lips desperately, tried to summon up her voice.

"How…W-Why…?" Was all she managed to get out in the end, and she froze at the large grin he gave her, one that bared his teeth. His fangs… The pointed incisors were right there before her eyes, stained still with the man's blood that he had just drank, drained the man of…

And her world was spinning, her eyes widening and widening and widening as a type of shock jolted through her system as she realized it, what had been happening all along.

"Y-You're a vampire…?" He laughed, throwing his head back, and the laugh was not his own. It was richer, deeper, and far too boisterous to ever be released from Squall.

"A vampire?" he quirked his brow at her, took another step towards her. "That is such an ugly term for what I am Rin, and I do believe that you just insulted me…"

"W-Where's Squall?" she whispered fiercely, her wide eyes boring into him as the first flicker of hate was spawned inside of her.

"Squall?" he said, his smile falling a bit so that his fangs, thank god, vanished behind his lips. "Why Rinoa, can't you tell? I _am _Squall! And here I always thought you to be at least somewhat level headed…"

"No!" she rapidly shook her head, clenched her hands into fists as she glared at him. "You monster, you're not Squall! Squall would never do this, kill another human just for blood!"

He paused for a moment, as though seriously considering her question, before slowly nodding. "I suppose you are right; he could never handle such a thing but fortunately…_I _can."

"And who exactly are you?" she demanded, glaring him down. "And don't tell me you're Squall!"

"But Rinoa, my sweet, I am, I really am! I'm just a more…advanced version of him, one that was created to help him—I mean _us_—survive. The Squall you love could never kill but I…I can, and, as you can see…" He smiled again, and held up his bloody hand. "I did."

"You're…You're not Squall dammit! Get the hell out of his body!" she screamed, no longer caring as she hurled herself away from the door, consumed by fury, shock and pain, and tackled the impersonator of Squall to the ground.

"Get the fuck out of his body!" she growled, desperately shaking him. "Give Squall back to me!"

Her heart broke when the beast beneath her did nothing more than laugh, bearing his fangs at her in the trickling moonlight in a flash of red and white. "But Rinoa, I'm right here! And I'll be here every single night until it's done, doing this exact same thing. What's the matter Rin? You look sad about that; I can't help but wonder why?" He chuckled darkly, and just grinned some more when she smacked him hard across the face, trembling over top of him as she glowered down at him.

"Not if I can help it!" she ground out, wondering if it was possible to use her Sorceress powers to rid Squall's body of this vampire's spirit.

As she began to focus on the chasm of power within her, Squall seemed to realize what she was planning, and in one single deft movement honed from years of training to be a SeeD had their positions reversed, and Squall now held the struggling, now utterly terrified Rinoa down.

"Let me go you bastard!" she snarled up at him, trying to knee him in the stomach. With an unnatural growl of his own Squall leaned down to flash him fangs at her, and smirked when she immediately went still beneath him, watching him with wide eyes still brimming with tiny tears.

"You can not get rid of me Rinoa, not that way. In fact, you can't get rid of me, unless you plan on destroying both parts of me, the Squall you love and the Squall I am now…"

She was still, gasping for breath when he slowly leaned down, keeping his eyes, those familiar dark grey eyes, focused on her as he placed his face, that fanged mouth, near her neck where the jugular vein pulsated with her life.

She felt her muscles lock as she felt his hot breath fan over her, and only began to cry harder when his familiar scent enveloped her. The scent of her beloved, her Knight…

"Rinoa…" she heard him lightly groan, and felt one of his rough hands—calloused from years of practice with a sword and coated still with the man's sticky blood—reach up to grab her around the neck next to where his face was, still hovering over her jugular.

She closed her eyes as the hand began to tighten, and wished silently for death to just come and take her as Squall's mouth touched her neck. So warm for someone being so cold… As long as the Squall she loved was not there, she did not want to be either…

"Sleep tight, princess…"

Hot breath washed into her ear, sending her heart into a spasm, before the darkness she had locked herself behind grew even thicker, and the floor beneath her, the scent of blood and that warm breath all around her were gone, shattering into a million shards to cut into her and scar up her heart as Rinoa lost contact with reality, if what she had been in really could be considered reality…

But as long as her heart still beat in her chest, it had to be.

--

_Ok, so there you go; what I've translated a vampire story into, haha. I did not want Squall to be the good guy; all too often the hero has to be so perfect, so heroic. You can consider this part of Squall to not really be him at all, but just merely the reactions the powers and thirsts of a vampire on his body. _

_You could also say he has Split Personality Disorder, but as mentioned in here, Squall created this being that he is acting like to deal with the fact of him being a vampire; after all, how can Balamb Garden's commander be a being that devours the blood of the innocent? He can't be, so that by hiding behind this other self in a way, he is one of the innocents, and actually not committing the crimes._

_You could also think, if you chose, that this really is not Squall, but is rather a copy of him and the real Squall is captured somewhere…Hm, that's not that bad of a plot! What do you think? _

_Please Review!_


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